PLAN B, OR IS IT C OR … J?

I’ve given up on the new corn “field.”

I had read that it can take more than one try to successfully grow corn. This was my second year, so I was hoping for more success this year.

We planted about 100 corn seeds in the new section of the in-ground garden April 15th. After four weeks, all that grew was 7 corn stalks ,,,and a whole lot of weeds.

7 whole corn plants sprouted

and a whole lot of weeds …

Weeds, weeds, and more weeds

The amount of leaf mulch we put on the bed should have been sufficient to control the weeds until the corn sprouted and grew enough to outpace them. Obviously that was a false concept.

I ran a cultivator in between the rows but that seemed to cause the weeds to explode and spread even more.

I’m declaring it a dismal failure.

Don’t worry, I didn’t do so without considering other options. I considered pulling the weeds out and re-planting but with the boundless amount of unwanted plant material there was, and my reduced mobility, I had to accept that was not a realistic course of action. I considered laying down cardboard and mound dirt to create rows, like I did last year, but, since we are still unable to use the truck to bring in bulk soil, I realized the amount of bagged soil I would have to purchase, and transport, would be preposterous.

So, now what?

I realized until I could get the weed pressure off the space, it was wasted effort to plant anything. So, I just covered it with cardboard and will let that sit in place to try to kill the weeds.

It’s a good thing I have a source for cardboard

If that’s successful, I may consider planting fall crops in the space, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.